Apple iPad to launch January 26 (maybe)

Wanna bet?

We've got a fiver to wager on Apple's intensely rumored iPad being launched on Tuesday, January 26.

Being journalists, we're not exactly rolling in cash, so why are we suddenly so profligate with our coin? Three reasons:

Item #1: "Very connected sources" who have "been amazingly accurate" in the past have toldThe Boy Genius Report that they're one-hundred per cent certain that a seven-inch iPad will be announced by Apple in January. No news of an announcement of the oft-discussed 10-inch model, but no news against it, either.

Item #2: The Silicon Valley Insiderreported Wednesday that Apple reps have asked "select developers" to prepare full-screen resolution touch-screen apps for a major demo to be held in January.

Item #3: The Financial Timesreported, also on Wednesday, that Apple has booked space at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in preparation for an event on January 26th. This venue, as you may recall, is where Steve Jobs emerged from his medical leave in September to pimp Apple's updated iPods.

The Reg tried to confirm the Financial Times report about the January 26 date, but the Yerba Buena Center for the Art's facilities rental website was "temporarily offline while it is being updated" when we tried to access it at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Standard time on Wednesday, and their office didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.